Purse: According to Beth Harris of Associated Press (via the Denver Post) the purse will be$2,395,800, with the winner claiming $1,635,800.

Kentucky Derby Field

Post

Horse

Jockey

Trainer

Odds

1

Lookin At Lee

Corey Lanerie

Steve Asmussen

20-1

2

Thunder Snow

Christophe Soumillon

Saeed bin Suroor

20-1

3

Fast and Accurate

Channing Hill

Mike Maker

50-1

4

Untrapped

Ricardo Santana Jr.

Steve Asmussen

30-1

5

Always Dreaming

John Velazquez

Todd Pletcher

5-1

6

State of Honor

Jose Lezcano

Mark Casse

30-1

7

Girvin

Mike Smith

Joe Sharp

15-1

8

Hence

Florent Geroux

Steve Asmussen

15-1

9

Irap

Mario Gutierrez

Doug O’Neill

20-1

10

Gunnevera

Javier Castellano

Antonio Sano

15-1

11

Battle of Midway

Flavien Prat

Jerry Hollendorfer

30-1

12

Sonneteer

Kent Desormeaux

Keith Desormeaux

50-1

13

J Boys Echo

Luis Saez

Dale Romans

20-1

14

Classic Empire

Julien Leparoux

Mark Casse

4-1

15

McCraken

Brian Hernandez Jr.

Ian Wilkes

5-1

16

Tapwrit

Jose Ortiz

Todd Pletcher

20-1

17

Irish War Cry

Rajiv Maragh

Graham Motion

6-1

18

Gormley

Victor Espinoza

John Shirreffs

15-1

19

Practical Joke

Joel Rosario

Chad Brown

20-1

20

Patch

Tyler Gaffalione

Todd Pletcher

30-1

AE

Royal Mo

Gary Stevens

John Shirreffs

20-1

AE

Master Plan

N/A

Todd Pletcher

50-1

Source: Kentucky Derby on Facebook

Storylines

Garry Jones/Associated Press

Let's start out by getting one thing out of the way: There is only one amazing name at this year's Kentucky Derby, and that belongs to Patch, the one-eyed horse. In other years, perhaps names like Irish War Cry or Classic Empire might take the crown.

"One of Paul Reddam's unnamed babies who was being vanned to Ocean Breeze Ranch had just undergone Interluekin-1 Receptor Antagonist Protein therapy, more commonly known as IRAP, used to treat the effects of joint disease in horses. When he arrived at the farm, the van driver saw the word IRAP on the horse's papers and assumed that was his name, so he identified the young horse as Irap."

"When Reddam was told about the van's driver's mixup the next day, he got a kick out of it and said, 'Why don't we just name him Irap?'"

So there you have it, a bit of fun trivia to impress your friends with while watching the Derby.

As for the race itself, the prevailing belief continues to be that this year's edition is wide open and far more even than in year's past. Classic Empire, Always Dreaming and McCraken are the betting favorites at the moment, but this isn't the sort of year that appears to have a clear top option.

While the Kentucky Derby has seen four straight favorites win the race, per Neil Greenberg of the Washington Post, this year seems like a strong contender to break the streak.

You can probably detect the subtext to all of this talk about an uneven field. Many will surely be saying something like: "Patch has a chance to win! Our one-eyed hero who comes in at 30-1 odds could pull off the improbable and become horse racing's best story since, well, American Pharoah!"

According to Matias Grez of CNN, Patch developed an ulcer in his eye at two and didn't respond to recovery. Eventually, the eye had to be removed entirely. And there's even a twist to this tale: Patch was given his name before he ever lost his eye.

Through it all, the horse never lost any spirit, according to his trainer, Todd Pletcher.

"He's a remarkable horse to lose his left eye in the middle of last summer and recover as quickly as he did," he told Reuters. "It seems to never faze him."

"It's a credit to him and his professionalism that he was able to adapt so seamlessly to it," he added. "I was concerned that it might compromise his ability in some way or the way he carried himself. I guess you don't know for sure but it certainly doesn't seem like it has."

How can you not root for Patch?

Of course, betting on Patch is another story. There will be better options come Derby day. But in this year's race, there aren't any better stories than Irap and Patch.